


Sunshine

by Spooky_Janis



Series: janis x karen [3]
Category: Mean Girls (2004), Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, First Dates, First Kiss, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 22:05:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16773814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spooky_Janis/pseuds/Spooky_Janis
Summary: “I’ll pay next time then,” Karen smiles and Janis almost chokes on her drink. Next time? “I’ve missed hanging out with you, Janis.”Janis actually chokes on her drink.Janis and Karen have their first date.





	Sunshine

Janis is pretty much a nervous wreck when the final bell rings. Usually she’d be racing towards her locker and then bounding down the front steps of the school with Damian in a race to see who could get to the bus first.

Today she’s going on a date with Karen Smith.

“You’ve got this,” Damian says, wrapping an arm around Janis’s shoulder as they leave the classroom. “You’re soulmates, nothing can go wrong.”

“That’s not how it works,” Janis scoffs. “But sure. I’ve got this. Although, if things do go wrong, you’re still up for saving me?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll call you crying my eyes out,” Damian reassures. “I’m always on the verge of tears so it shouldn’t be that hard.”

Janis laughs, hitting him playfully. Her stomach is twisting itself into knots as they get closer and closer to her locker, and she almost bolts when she spots a flash of pink through the crowd. She stops walking, giving a panicked glance to Damian who grabs her by the shoulders, leaning down slightly so he’s at eye level with her.

“Janis Sarkisian you’re going to be fine,” his tone is firm but not unkind. “It’s just a date. If it doesn’t go well then you just need to text me and I’ll come and get you, but we both know that’s not going to happen,” he turns her around, pushing her forward. “Now get over there and have a great time.”

She looks back at Damian one more time before walking over to Karen, taking a deep breath. She’s the one who’d brought this up at Spring Fling so it doesn’t make sense as to why she’s so nervous. Besides, it was just shopping and a visit to the food court. There wasn’t that much room for anything to go wrong.

“Hey Karen,” she smiles as she approaches the girl. “Uh, how was your day at school?”

“Good,” Karen answers. “I failed the chemistry quiz but it’s not as if I didn’t see it coming. My dad should be here soon,” she glances down at her phone. “I’m just waiting for him to text back.”

“Your dad?” Janis frowns. “Why would he be here?”

“He’s going to drive us there,” Karen beams. “I would’ve asked Regina but, well…”

“Oh, okay,” Janis nods. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting, but it was better than being stuck in a car with Regina that’s for sure. “Cool, I guess.”

So they wait for Karen’s dad, making small talk about their days. Janis usually hates small talk, especially about school, but she finds herself not minding as she talks to Karen, filling her in on what had happened. Not much, her day hadn’t been eventful at all, but when she stops talking Karen picks right back up.

She’s never thought she’d be interested in what Regina had for lunch, but here she is, avidly listening to Karen explaining how Regina had flip-flopped between getting cheese fries for most of lunch.

Karen’s dad arrives when the school has mostly emptied out. Janis wonders if it’s on purpose, if Karen’s trying to hide from Regina and Gretchen, but she doesn’t dare ask. She just greets Mr. Smith politely and climbs into the back of the car, staring out of the window for most of the trip. When they pull into the parking lot she thanks him before getting out, waiting for Karen to join her. They wave goodbye to Mr. Smith and then Karen is gripping Janis’s wrist and dragging her towards the mall.

* * *

It’s way too busy inside for Janis’s liking. She sticks close to Karen, trying not to let the discomfort show on her face. Her date doesn’t seem bothered, though, chatting animatedly as she drags Janis along.

They’ve already been to a few stores, Karen’s favourite ones, and Karen has an impressive amount of bags considering they’ve only been there twenty minutes tops. She’d picked Janis out a new lipstick which Janis had bought and tucked into the front pocket of her backpack, even though she didn’t really like it.

Whatever made Karen happy.

She spends most of the time waiting outside changing rooms awkwardly, staring down at the floor until Karen emerges modelling new clothes. Janis finds it kind of unfair how Karen seems to suit everything. It’s not fair.

Like right now. Karen is in a denim skirt and a peach coloured tank top that looks absolutely amazing. It’s something that Janis would never be able to pull off.

“I don’t know,” Karen says, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t think Regina would—”

“Who cares what Regina thinks?” Janis interrupts. “Karen it’s your body so wear what you want to wear.”

“But she’ll be—”

“Karen,” Janis isn’t having any of it. Karen looks good in that outfit, and Janis can tell that she wants to buy it. “You can’t let Regina dictate your life. But it if you want it and if she has a problem then tell her to fuck off.”

Karen nods, retreating back into the changing room. Janis lets out a sigh and is considering texting Damian for help when Karen pulls back the curtain dressed in her actual clothes again with the other outfit draped over her arm. There’s a steely look of determination in her eye.

“I’m going to buy it,” Karen says. “And wear it to school tomorrow.”

Janis whoops, giving the girl a high-five. Karen deserves to be able to buy whatever she wants, and this is definitely a step in the right direction. Maybe their first date isn’t the greatest place to try and foster a rebellion but oh well. It wasn’t as if Janis had actively set out to do it.

They traipse around a couple more shops, and Janis ends up buying another tube of lipstick that Karen points out to her. She’s more than happy when they finally settle down to eat and insists on paying.

As she’s standing in line to order their food she texts Damian a single thumbs up. All in all it’s going pretty well and she’s liking Karen more and more with every minute. She’s not as shallow as Janis had assumed, although she’s well aware that that probably changes when she’s around Regina.

It’d taken her a couple of days after the Spring Fling to try and come to terms with the fact that she was soulmates with a Plastic of all people. Still, out of the three of them at least it was Karen. Gretchen was a handful and being soulmates with Regina was her absolute worst nightmare. Janis doesn’t want to imagine what that would be like.

She orders and carries the food back to the table, waving off Karen’s offer to pay.

“It’s fine,” Janis shrugs, giving Karen a small smile. “I’ve got it.”

“I’ll pay next time then,” Karen smiles and Janis almost chokes on her drink. _Next time?_ “I’ve missed hanging out with you, Janis.”

Janis actually chokes on her drink.

“What?” She asks once she’s done spluttering. She grabs the napkins from their tray and starts mopping at the table, her cheeks burning. “I mean, that’s nice Karen. Really. Thank you. But why?”

“’Cause Regina and Gretchen aren’t all that nice to me,” Karen shrugs and the look on her face breaks Janis’s heart. “They’re good friends but they just think I’m dumb. Which I am, but—”

“You’re not dumb, Karen,” Janis sighs, reaching across the table to take Karen’s hands in her own. “School performance isn’t everything and it’s not as if they have straight As.”

Karen takes a deep, shaky breath. “I guess so,” she says. “But anyway, you’re not like that. You’re nice to me and you always were, even when we were kids. I miss hanging out with you and I’m sorry about what Regina did. I should’ve stopped it, I should’ve—”

“No,” Janis cuts her off. “You couldn’t have done anything. It was shitty, yeah, and it sucked but it wasn’t your fault. I noticed that you never laughed at their jokes when I finally came back. You need to give yourself more credit, Karen.”

And then Janis is leaning forward and kissing her. Karen’s slips are soft and Janis can taste the girl’s strawberry lip gloss as she pulls away, eyes wide as she realises what she’s just done. But she soon relaxes when she sees Karen smiling and when the girl leans across and kisses her again.

“I’ve missed you too,” Janis says slightly breathless when they pull away again. And god, she desperately wants there to be a next time now. “Next Thursday? You can come over to my house and we can paint each other’s nails and watch a film and eat candy all night just like we used to do back in middle school?”

“I’d love to,” Karen grins, nodding before gesturing to the table. “Although, we should probably eat before our food gets cold.”

Janis laughs and they eat and talk and Janis finds herself pouting as she hugs Karen goodbye. She’s fallen hard and fast for the blonde girl she realises as she waves the Smiths off, and she can’t tell whether it’s a good or a bad thing.

For now she’s going to go with good. She wants this to work out; as crazy as it seems, Janis can see a future with Karen.

She wants a future with Karen.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://spooky-janis.tumblr.com/)


End file.
